Vocal Justice

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874315130
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
7086125895
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$723,247
Expenses
$745,737
Assets
$201,805
Liabilities
$700

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shawon Jackson (Executive Director / Treasurer)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shawon Jackson (Executive Director / Treasurer): $77,781 total reported compensation
  • Alexis Corazon-Rodriguez (Trustee): $3,300 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We inspire and prepare middle and high school students to be social change leaders. We do this by providing teachers with curriculum and training to transform their classes into places that help students develop and use their voices for change.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our programs empower educators and youth to lead social change through storytelling, collaboration, and community engagement. The Teacher Fellowship supports middle and high school teachers with a yearlong storytelling curriculum that enhances students self and social awareness and communication skills. Teacher fellows receive compensation and provide valuable feedback to refine the program. The Youth Power Collective trains and pays high school students to design and implement social change projects in their communities, with teacher mentors also compensated for their support and feedback. The Youth Advisory Council engages high school and college students as paid advisors who help shape our nonprofits programming and operations while gaining professional development and networking opportunities to grow as emerging social change leaders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.3%; rating input score 49
  • Program expense ratio: 47.6%; rating input score 48
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.1%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 51.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.3% of revenue deployed · 47.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $355K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.